Ugh, I need to update here. Most of the stickers are on. I'll snag a pic of the extra-generic round shift knob (it's nearly perfect, btw).

Haven't done much but drive it. I did, however, put some red poly shifter bushings in. I would hardly call its shift action before this crappy, but I wasn't completely satisfied either. The rubber ones were in remarkably good shape, and it had no side-to-side slop, but it felt just a bit more squishy than I had been led to believe. Even mature automotive enthusiasts regard Honda shifters from this era as some of the best ever made, after all. With the poly bushings, it now feels like what I had expected: laser-guided, precise, firm, better able to take hamhanded shifts, but more soundly rewarding slow-is-fast, precise ones. It takes the last bit of unwanted vagueness out of any and all shifts, especially those with any side-to-side gate movements, and takes shifting off my mind to concentrate better on my situational awareness, and hypermiling. Maybe the only better shifter in existence is a Ferrari gated shifter. But I'll likely never have the pleasure of knowing.

Ok, ok, it has some downsides: I now REALLY like that 5-4 downshift. And oddly enough, the crisp action reminds me enough of the almost equally good shifter in my SVT Focus, that I have occasionally developed a habit of reaching for a 6th gear.

Nice work on the shifter. That was a better shifter than my Fit, even stock. It's rods instead of my current cables which are more vague. A transmission fluid change helps too - I just got one after 9 years and it's a notable improvement.

Nice work on the shifter. That was a better shifter than my Fit, even stock. It's rods instead of my current cables which are more vague. A transmission fluid change helps too - I just got one after 9 years and it's a notable improvement.

Yeah a 6th gear would be nice.

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Yeah, rod linkages rule. Noted on the fluid change! IIRC they just take 10w30 motor oil in the trans? Ehh, I'll figure it out.

Oh, I forgot a little nod to why Hondas are considered easy to work on and well engineered: the rear bushing below the shifter has to fit over a flared or flanged endpiece. That flare was designed in a shape which allows you to work it over the flange from an angle once the bushing is lubed. It's a functional retainer and its own tool all in one. That minute kind of thought and detail work is remarkable.

I think the best-shiting car I had was my 89 Civic Si. I'm not sure if that was a linkage or cable shifter , but
it was accurate , tight ( meaning not sloppy ) and precise. I'm a firm believer that most people that drive
manuals don't really have a clue about the "right" way to shift. Lots of them think the whole object is to move(slam)
the shifter from one gear to the next as fast as possible , without really giving the synchros a chance to work.
I discovered this from the manual cars that I purchased used. In fact , I probably wouldn't buy a used one again.
But I do intend to buy a new manual car , and I'm looking at them all the time.

I think the best-shiting car I had was my 89 Civic Si. I'm not sure if that was a linkage or cable shifter , but it was accurate , tight ( meaning not sloppy ) and precise. I'm a firm believer that most people that drive manuals don't really have a clue about the "right" way to shift. Lots of them think the whole object is to move(slam) the shifter from one gear to the next as fast as possible , without really giving the synchros a chance to work. ...

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That was right, as of when manuals were more common. Most of those people don't drive manuals any more. Back when more of them did, most also had a remarkably poor sense of which gear the engine wanted to be in.

The two worst-shifting manual cars I ever drove were my brother's Volkwagens. The Dasher required frequent trips under the car to lubricate the linkage. The Jetta linkage started vague, and became so much more so that distinguishing whether one was shifting into reverse or first gear became impossible. Taking off in reverse when a stoplight turns green can be interesting. My GLC (rod linkage) had one of the better FWD shifters, although not as good as some Hondas.

I’m not that soft, but I’m more of a wrist shifter, usually only have a few fingers on the knob itself. It needs a smidgeon of force now to slot it into gear, which I like. The only time I get down on some force is when I rev-match a downshift for power, which is fairly rare. I want to slot that thing in there, and get going.

I have a ways to go on the car’s tat job. I deliberately stay away from political stuff but for one of those you see, and that not for reasons of agreement. I just need more culture stuff now...bands, etc., and a giant band-aid one to go over that paint gash on my bumper.

I still maintain that an old car looks fantastic with bumper stickers

EDIT: I don’t remember how I was hosting my pictures before, but if anyone knows how to make it not go oriented 90* off, lemme know. Thanks.

The two worst-shifting manual cars I ever drove were my brother's Volkwagens.

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Perhaps I haven't driven as many cars as you , but the worst I drove were both Legacy station wagons , mid-90s vintage , when they were
around ten years old. Horribly vague and sloppy ! My daughter said " no problem , dad" and she bought it
and drove it for 4-5 years. I have never driven a VW. The Civic Si and the Mazda GLC are my own personal benchmarks ( both bought new).
But I did test-drive a Scion XB with the 1.5 5MT and I was VERY impressed with shifting action. Remind me not to buy any USED manual cars.

I have a ways to go on the car’s tat job. I deliberately stay away from political stuff but for one of those you see, and that not for reasons of agreement. I just need more culture stuff now...bands, etc., and a giant band-aid one to go over that paint gash on my bumper.

I still maintain that an old car looks fantastic with bumper stickers

EDIT: I don’t remember how I was hosting my pictures before, but if anyone knows how to make it not go oriented 90* off, lemme know. Thanks.

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Nice tats. I imagine an "Interstate Logistics Engineer" has many opportunities to collect a very wide range of bumper stickers.

Sorry, don't know how to help with your question about picture hosting.

Edit: I go for anonymous as much as I can. I even took the dealership emblem off my Bolt, not that I have anything against them. Besides, they're far away and I use a more local Chevy dealership for service. Strange that not all Chevy dealers can service Bolts, so I don't go to the nearest one for that reason.

Nice tats. I imagine an "Interstate Logistics Engineer" has many opportunities to collect a very wide range of bumper stickers.

Sorry, don't know how to help with your question about picture hosting.

Edit: I go for anonymous as much as I can. I even took the dealership emblem off my Bolt, not that I have anything against them. Besides, they're far away and I use a more local Chevy dealership for service. Strange that not all Chevy dealers can service Bolts, so I don't go to the nearest one for that reason.

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I left my dealer emblem on. Had I bought new, or a more regular used car, I’d have ripped it off straight away, but one of the reasons I left it on is because seeing it was a local (Dallas) car gave me a bit of comfort that I wouldn’t have to worry about snow belt salt crusties, and it came off as charming, in a way.

You’d be surprised how few places sell bumper stickers beyond the usual “can’t fix stupid”, “keep honking, I’m reloading”, “I support single moms” (with a silhouette of a stripper working a pole), or “work harder, millions on welfare depend on you” tropes. Most places sell the same rack of stickers, obviously some sort of easy convenience store supply business which sends the same racks and stickers out to everyone. Luckily for me, they had a far wider selection out west, and those are the “place” stickers I’d want anyway. The west is my happy place, and those are the places I most strongly want to display.

Curiously, I have a real hard time finding a Chicago flag sticker offline. The hunt is the most fun, so I don’t buy online

Perhaps I haven't driven as many cars as you , but the worst I drove were both Legacy station wagons , mid-90s vintage , when they were
around ten years old. Horribly vague and sloppy ! My daughter said " no problem , dad" and she bought it
and drove it for 4-5 years. I have never driven a VW. The Civic Si and the Mazda GLC are my own personal benchmarks ( both bought new).
But I did test-drive a Scion XB with the 1.5 5MT and I was VERY impressed with shifting action. Remind me not to buy any USED manual cars.

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If you don’t know what a good manual feels like, you’re not spoiled, and don’t discriminate that much. The worst I ever drove was a Kia Forte with a six-speed. It was such a mess, I had no idea if I was in first or third (at the first stoplight, turns out I was in third. I stalled both the car and the sale). It felt like I was stirring a deep pot of stew, heavy and no sense of any kind of gate.

Kudos to your daughter driving stick. I thought about making mine learn stick, but I am wavering. They’ll never drive stick again, most likely, but I still think it’ll give them a feel for driving they can’t have any other way.

Civic’s chugging along. I slammed some fresh drive belts on, but the alternator still doesn’t charge when revved above ~3300. I also spent a bit of time trying to see why my cig lighter receptacle isn’t getting power...that’s not looking too good so far.

On the upside, I slapped 9 new stickers on it, got a record tank, and have decided to remove the rear sway bar to balance out its understeer (although I shoulda checked to see if it even has one...) I’m short on ca$h money, but I’d like to find a factory cluster for a manual with a tach and swap it in. 9141 protocol is slow on my UG, and really, a manual should have a proper tach anyway swapping it in looks like typical Honda legos, extremely easy.